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August 4, 2010 - Testimony is held in Philly re HB 1999. Speaking for NOVJL will be Bobbi Jamriska, whose pregnant sister was murdered by a JLWOP case.
Victims present at the hearing reported that the opposition to the bill was so strong, that it was highly unlikely the legislation would move. These crimes are so serious that it seems unimaginable that any elected leader would side for killers against public safety and victims families.

October 2009: Two bills are filled in the Pennsylvania legislature to abolish/reform the sentencing of juvenile killers and violent teens to life in those rare and serious cases where it may be called for.

Download copies of these bills here:   HB 1994 and HB 1999

We will be working in the state of Pennsylvania to shape the direction of these bills, whille also opposing ANY retroactive proposals. We will expect all affected and interested victims families of these crimes to be fully at the table and present in the negotiations and conversation about what future reforms may be acceptable to the people of the state of Pennsylvania. CONTACT US to get involved in this discussion.

see BELOW for links to actual testimony from the hearings on HB 1999
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Pennsylvania may be at the center of the national debate about killers under age 18 and how to properly sentence them. PA has the largest JLWOP population in the USA, at around 444 cases. Senator Greenleaf of Pennsylvania already held hearings in September of 2008 at the state capital in Harrisburg because of his concern at being "number one" in the nation.

Pennsylvania Victim Family Members Bobbi Jamriska sets up national blog on JLWOP http://victimsofjlwop.blogspot.com

Download Our Written Testimony submitted to the PA legislature at their hearings on JLWOP

Pictured: In September 2008, Dawn Romig, mother of Danni Reese, who was brutally raped and murdered by a 17 year old, tried as an adult and sentenced to life in Pennsylvania, goes with her family and victim advocates to give testimony on JLWOP.

The hearings did include a few victims families who the wonderful PA victim advocate Carol Lavery and her staff worked hard to find. But they had almost no time, no notice except from us here at NOVJL and we had found it through Google alerts. No word to victims from Senator Greenleaf's office before the hearings. Those victims that went to the effort to come and speak were verbally assaulted at the hearing and the Senator in the Chair did NOT silence them, thereby re-traumatizing even further these poor families present.

Contact the office of State Senator Stewart Greenleaf to comment.

Dawn Romig helps all victims in the state - Read News Story and another one

See Dawn's powerful speech below.

Below is detail about related stories:

Editors NOTE:

1. The headline is incorrect and inflammatory and the numbers they cite are incorrect.
2. To propose that the regular re-engagement with the offender, the constant uncertainty, the lack of finality, and the frequent re-traumatization of parole hearings for life is the ONLY "solution" to their view that JLWOP is not working the way it should, is to cease to lead well the public policy discussion. There are many alternatives for reform that do not have to be balanced on the backs of victims as does the parole process.
3. See below for a related news story that has affected this entire process!

News Stories from PA:

http://citypaper.net/articles/2010/07/29/kids-are-different

Nearly 500 teens serving life terms in Pa. prisons  

Monday, September 29, 2008
By Moriah Balingit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pennsylvania leads the nation in teen lifers -- prisoners serving life without parole for crimes they committed as minors -- and last week legislators met to examine the issue for the first time.
In a courtroom in Pittsburgh, 18-year-old twins Devon and Jovon Knox faced exactly that fate -- life without parole -- for killing 18-year-old Jehru Donaldson in a botched car-jacking in July 2007, when they were 17.
They join the 444 teen lifers currently held in Pennsylvania prisons, which is about a fifth of the nation's total and 110 more than runner-up Louisiana, according to a May 2008 report by Human Rights Watch.
Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and called the hearing, said he was startled to learn that Pennsylvania held the No. 1 spot and that the United States is the only country in the world that regularly imprisons youths for life.
"That got my attention," he said. "I felt a responsibility to look at [the issue] ... which is why we held the hearing."
Some states have considered laws that would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for juveniles or that would eliminate the penalty altogether. Five states and Washington, D.C., prohibit the practice altogether.
Last year in Pennsylvania, nine people were sentenced to life for crimes they committed as minors. Today, 10 people in Allegheny County await trial for crimes they committed as minors and could wind up in prison for life. (First- and second-degree murder are the only crimes that result in a minor being sentenced to life in prison.)
The issue has been polarizing, with human rights activists arguing that sentencing a juvenile to life in prison is excessively harsh and some victims advocates arguing that those who commit homicide should spend the rest of their lives in prison, regardless of their age.
Still, it's the number -- 444 -- that troubles some.
"It could be a commentary on Pennsylvania law ... it could also be a commentary on society," said Judge Kim Berkeley Clark, who heads the county's Family Division and has adjudicated some juvenile homicide cases. "It makes me very sad."
Elizabeth Calvin of Human Rights Watch, which published the report that got Mr. Greenleaf's attention, said a major contributing factor is the rigidity of Pennsylvania law, which requires anyone charged with homicide, regardless of age, to be tried as an adult and has a mandatory minimum sentence of life without parole for first- and second-degree murder.
She called it "a double whammy for a kid, without any review."
In Pennsylvania, first-degree murder is defined as an intentional killing, generally premeditated; second-degree murder is any homicide that occurs during the commission of a felony.
Pennsylvania may be the only state that has a mandatory sentence of life without parole for both first- and second-degree murder, said James Fellman, a Tampa, Fla.-based attorney and the chairman of the American Bar Association's Commission on Sentencing.
"It makes no sense at all," he said. "That's why there's degrees of murder. There needs to be different sentences for different crimes."
Experts say that the exclusion rule, which requires anyone charged with murder to be tried as an adult, also contributes to Pennsylvania's number. Minors have the opportunity to have their cases transferred to juvenile court through a decertification hearing, but in homicide cases, such transfers are rare.
Ms. Calvin said many minors get convicted under felony murder rule, a type of second-degree murder conviction that holds all participants in a felony that results in murder responsible. Youths tend to act in groups, which makes them particularly susceptible to this charge.
In the case of the Knox twins, it was never determined which one fired the gun and killed Jehru Donaldson because the sole witness could not distinguish between the two, especially after the twins showed up to court in identical outfits and switched seats.
But the prosecution successfully argued that it did not matter, because both were involved in a felony that resulted in a death and both were convicted of felony murder. One twin, though he did not fire a weapon, will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Their father, Douglas Carey, maintains their innocence but said it is "unjust" that both his sons should be charged.
"How can you charge two people for one murder?" he said. "Basically what they're saying is that both my sons had their hand on the trigger."
But for Jay Donaldson, the father of the 18-year-old victim, the conviction was fair, because both could have predicted that an armed car-jacking could have resulted in someone's death.
"You're just as responsible because you didn't do anything to stop it ... for all intents and purposes you did it too," he said.
Many have challenged the fairness of the felony murder rule, because a person convicted does not have to be present or directly involved with the actual murder, only with the felony.
Even for those convicted of first-degree murder, critics say that a life without parole sentence is draconian for a minor.
A violent criminal act can be reflective of "extreme immaturity, but not one that would warrant treatment as adults," said Mr. Fellman of the American Bar Association.
This is why some states have banned it outright in favor of life sentences with the possibility of early release.
Mr. Greenleaf said that he has not come to any conclusions as to what Pennsylvania should do, if anything, to address the high number of people in prison for life for crimes they committed as minors.
In weighing options like early release for those currently serving life sentences and lighter mandatory minimum sentences, he said that the state must consider the impact on public safety, particularly how well the state can determine which of those convicted are sufficiently rehabilitated and which of those are likely to commit crimes again.
Mr. Donaldson said if the Knox twins were ever released he is certain that they would once again wreak havoc in the neighborhood. He said they were beyond hope for rehabilitation.
"They had so many chances to go the right way," he said, adding that they were in the same anti-violence program as his son.
But the punishment his son's killer faces does not make much of a difference, he said.
"It's not going to bring back my happiness, my joy," he said.
Moriah Balingit can be reached at mbalingit@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2533.
First published on September 29, 2008

Ironically, just a week after these JLWOP hearings a PA parolee murders a police officer. The Governor of PA suspends ALL paroles pending investigation. The reason for this is an unmitigated tragedy. The reality politically though is a positive eye-opener. The dangers of paroled killers are painfully reminders of the importance of not using parole as their "solution" to JLWOP.
 
Sept. 29, 2008 Chuck Ardo
717-783-1116
Gov. Rendell Asks Corrections Department to Suspend Releases Pending Review of Corrections, Parole Systems
Urges Legislature to Mandate 20-Year Sentence for Assaults on Officers with Firearms
HARRISBURG – Governor Edward G. Rendell today called on the Department of Corrections to suspend the release of all offenders who have been recommended for parole pending the findings of a review by Dr. John Goldkamp, chair of Temple University’s Department of Criminal Justice.
In a letter sent today, Governor Rendell requested that Goldkamp conduct an independent review of the processes by which the Department of Corrections prepares violent offenders for release, the Board of Probation and Parole determines whether to parole a violent offender, and how both entities supervise parolees after release.
“Last week, Philadelphia Police Officer Patrick McDonald was tragically murdered by a paroled offender, but it is even more tragic that this was the second instance within the last four months of a parolee shooting a Philadelphia police officer,” wrote Governor Rendell, referring to the shooting of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. “Heartbreaking losses such as these have shed light on the need to thoroughly review the process by which Pennsylvania paroles violent offenders. Therefore, I am asking you to review the way in which these two cases were managed by the Department of Corrections and the Board of Probation and Parole in order to minimize the likelihood that these kinds of scenarios will be repeated.”
Goldkamp’s review will begin immediately and the Governor added that he has directed the department and the board to cooperate fully with the review.
Governor Rendell requested that the review be thorough, complete and expedited to the fullest extent possible. If the review yields any measures that demand prompt action, the Governor requested that Goldkamp present those recommendations to him immediately.
The Board of Probation and Parole may continue to conduct parole hearings and case reviews, but not grant parole.
Dr. Goldkamp’s work has focused on criminal justice and innovation in the courts. He has also researched issues of release and detention thoroughly.
In a separate letter to the Senate, Governor Rendell said assaults on law enforcement officers have increased and, therefore, the state needs to act now by implementing more stringent penalties—especially when the assault includes the use of a firearm against an officer.
The Governor cited a statistic that showed the number of assaults of law enforcement officers with firearms in Pennsylvania increased by 82 percent between 2002 and 2007. Nationally, that number is far less—only13 percent.
“I believe that we can decrease the number of these attacks by guaranteeing that criminals who fire upon police officers will be sentenced to at least 20 years behind bars,” said Governor Rendell. “Our laws already provide for the death penalty or life imprisonment for those who shoot and kill a police officer. However, we need more stringent penalties on the books for those who shoot at police officers and, fortunately, do not end up killing them. In these cases we need clear, harsh, and mandatory penalties.
The Governor called on the Senate in a letter to amend a provision into House Bill 1845 requiring that any person found guilty of assaulting a police officer with a firearm be sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison.
House Bill 1845, currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee, may receive consideration before the Senate adjourns.
“I urge the Senate to move this bill—with this amendment—before the end of this legislative session,” said the Governor. “Requiring judges to impose tough mandatory sentences on those criminals who shoot at our police officers is the least we can do.”
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The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit www.governor.state.pa.us.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The two letters sent by Governor Rendell today are included below:
September 29, 2008
Professor John S. Goldkamp, Chair
Temple University
Department of Criminal Justice
Gladfelter Hall
1115 W. Berks Street
5th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Dear Professor Goldkamp:
Last week, Philadelphia Police Officer Patrick McDonald was murdered by a paroled offender. Even more tragic is the fact that this was the second instance within the last four months of a parolee shooting a Philadelphia police officer; in May of this year an offender on parole for robbery shot and killed Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski.
Heartbreaking losses such as these have shed light on the need to thoroughly review the process by which Pennsylvania paroles violent offenders. Therefore, I am asking you to review the way in which these two cases were managed by the Department of Corrections and the Board of Probation and Parole in order to minimize the likelihood that these kinds of scenarios will be repeated. I have directed the Department of Corrections and the Board of Probation and Parole to cooperate fully with your review.
Please provide me with any and all recommendations that may improve the safety of citizens throughout the Commonwealth. Ultimately, we all understand it was the action of individual criminals that caused these deaths, however I need to know that we are doing everything we can to reduce the possibility of future reoccurrences.
While a thorough and complete review is critical, I would ask that you expedite your review to the fullest extent. Furthermore, should you arrive at any critical conclusions demanding quick action I would ask that you direct those concerns to my office immediately through Deputy Chief of Staff K. Scott Roy.
Sincerely,
Edward G. Rendell
Governor
Cc: Jeffrey Beard, Secretary
Catherine McVey, Chairman
K. Scott Roy, Deputy Chief of Staff
September 29, 2008
Dear Members of the Senate of Pennsylvania:
We were all stunned and saddened by the senseless and tragic murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Patrick McDonald and the shooting of his colleague, Officer Richard Bowes, by a career criminal last week. As we assess what happened, one thing is clear: we need tougher laws to make sure that those who fire upon our law enforcement officers will be put in prison for at least twenty years—without the possibility of parole or early release.
House Bill 1845, currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee, may receive consideration before the Senate adjourns. Should this occur, I am asking the Senate to pass an amendment to HB 1845 providing for the mandatory sentencing of those who fire upon our police officers. This proposed language can be found in Senate Bill 1237 (Stack) and House Bill 2060 (O’Brien, D). It is in the interest of protecting our law enforcement officers to pass this legislation before the end of this session. I ask you to support Senator Stack in his attempt to amend HB 1845.
As you know, we have witnessed an alarming increase in brazen attacks on law enforcement officers. Between 2002 and 2007, the number of assaults with firearms on law enforcement officers in Pennsylvania increased by 82%, whereas the national increase was far less—13%.
I believe that we can decrease the number of these attacks by guaranteeing that criminals who fire upon police officers will be sentenced to at least twenty years behind bars. Our laws already provide for the death penalty or life imprisonment for those who shoot and kill a police officer. However, we need more stringent penalties on the books for those who shoot at police officers and, fortunately, do not end up killing them. In these cases we need clear, harsh, and mandatory penalties.
I urge the Senate to move this bill—with this amendment—before the end of this legislative session. Requiring judges to impose tough mandatory sentences on those criminals who shoot at our police officers is the least we can do.
Sincerely,
Edward G. Rendell
Governor
 
United Press International (09/29/2008)
 
Pennsylvania divided on teenage lifers
 
Pennsylvania authorities say 10 minors now awaiting sentencing could boost to 454 the number of teenagers sentenced to life without parole in the state.
 
Pennsylvania leads the nation in teenagers serving life without parole for crimes committed as minors -- about a fifth of the nation's total, The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reported Monday, noting Louisiana ranks second with about 334 teenagers incarcerated for life.
 
Pennsylvania state legislators are polarized, with some arguing that sentencing a teenager to life in prison is excessively harsh and other lawmakers arguing those who commit homicide should be imprisoned the rest of their lives, regardless of age, the Post-Gazette reported.
 
Pennsylvania law requires anyone charged with homicide to be tried as an adult and to be sentenced to life without parole if convicted of first- or second-degree murder.
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact THE PENNSYLVANIA VICTIM ADVOCATE:

Carol L. Lavery
Victim Advocate
Office of the Victim Advocate
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
1101 South Front Street, Suite 5200
Harrisburg  PA   17104-2522
Phone: 717-214-2256 or 1-800-563-6399
Fax: 717-787-0867
www.paacp.state.pa.us

Dawn Romig's Speech

My name is Dawn Romig. Our daughter Danni Reese Romig (see photos on In Memoriam page) was brutally beaten, raped , strangled to death and thrown in a river 11 days after her 12th birthday by a 17 year old “juvenile” who lived right around the corner from our home. She was a 6th grader at South Mountain Middle School. She was very popular and had lots of friends who still love her, remember her, and miss her very much. She was very loving, caring, and vibrant, with amazing potential. She was just starting to blossom into a lovely young girl. She was discovering pretty clothes, and the value of brushing her hair.  She had a passion for animals. She dreamed that one day she would be a veterinarian. She also loved being a big sister. At home, she had a younger sister, Destiny and a new baby brother, Darryl Jr. Danni loved teaching him how to walk all around the house. She beamed with pride in helping him achieve his success.  The day we buried Danni he walked all the way across the living room by himself for the very first time. We like to think she was right there with him holding his little hands helping him along. Danni was a loving and nurturing big sister to Destiny also. Danni and Destiny were the very best of friends. They shared a bedroom together and they loved every minute of it. They played games, played with dolls, drew and colored pictures, and rode their bikes together. Unlike a lot of sisters who argue and fuss, Danni and Destiny learned from each other to love and share the tender experiences of their young lives.  I give tremendous credit to Danni for contributing to the kind and loving young girl that Destiny is today. I see Danni every day, in Destiny; with the love she has for her little brother.  Danni definitely taught her well how to be a great big sister.

            Danni and her father, Darryl, had a very close relationship. Darryl suffers with severe asthma and is a stay at home Dad.  All day, everyday, they played pranks on each other and were always making jokes. Danni was a good child who followed the rules. How many times she would open the front door and holler to her Dad begging him for 15 more minutes to play with her friends, always at the time she was due home. When Danni uncharacteristically did not come home on time that dreadful evening, after asking for the extra time, I knew something was wrong. After forming our own search team, Darryl led the way through the bitter cold and snow. Being a father in distress and fear searching for his child that night, adrenalin took over his mind and body, and it was like he had no asthma. His tireless efforts were unsuccessful; he could not find our precious daughter. Darryl’s health has gotten much worse over the past 6 years. His asthma has him totally disabled.  I can’t help but feel that the impact of the loss of our daughter has contributed to his decline. I try to be the strong one for all of us. I am the voice for Danni’s rights and the rights of past and future victims. The world seems to have lost its sense of accountability. Danni had a right to expect to live her life and follow her dreams. She was robbed of that right by this “juvenile” who needs to understand that everything you do in life impacts your life; the good and the bad.  And this was bad.  This was wrong and tragic and needless.  I believe that if a juvenile is old enough to think he or she can take someone’s life in such a senseless and violent manner, then they need to clearly understand the consequences and suffer the appropriate punishment. They choose to make these decisions and in doing that, they choose to accept the consequences of those same decisions. Danni had no choice; she was at the mercy of this offender. His age is really irrelevant as it was an adult act he pursued. Why should these juveniles NOT get “life in prison”? In my eyes he deserves to be put to death immediately like his victim was. Age cannot excuse what they have done. Danni’s life is gone; it is over. Just as he took her life, he should pay with his life as well. Letting him go free, no matter if he serves 80 years or 5 years, would send a message to him that it was okay because he was only 17.  I’m sorry, but what he did to my daughter is not okay at any age. The heinous things he did should never be considered as pardonable; otherwise her death becomes even more senseless.  Our case turned into a death penalty case when the rape kit turned out positive. Our District Attorney asked us if we wanted to pursue the death penalty or accept the plea of life in prison. We did not seek to end Brian’s life, even though he ended our daughter’s life. He needs to live every day and think about what he has done. I also did not want my family and my children to go through appeals for the next 20 years. It would not be fair to any of us. It wouldn’t bring Danni back.  But I do seek justice; justice for a life cut short; justice for a life of promise and hope that ended violently and mercilessly at the hands of a “juvenile” by technicality, who carried out a cognitive adult act that ended the life of my daughter.

            February 26th 2003 was the worst day of our lives. It began when a boy Danni knew came to the door asking her if she wanted to go to the playground. The offender thoughtfully manipulated this much younger boy into going to get Danni because he knew she would gladly accompany him to the playground, setting his evil plan in motion.

Knowing in his mind what he planned to do, he could not show his face at our door.   Danni came home at exactly 4:50 pm to check in and ask if she can go up there to play for a little while longer. She was told to be home by 5:30 to eat dinner with the family. A half hour turned into an hour and then into two hours. Panic set in. At 7:00 that evening I called the police to report her missing. Shortly after that we had formed our own search team. We talked to all her friends and everyone we talked to said they saw her with the teenager we knew who had lived right around the corner from us. I knew of him from seeing him from time to time around the neighborhood. My husband had gone to his home and He answered the door. He asked him if he saw Danni that she hadn’t come home for dinner.He said he hadn’t seen her since she was walking home from the bus stop after school. A bold faced calculated lie right into the face of the father of the girl he had just willfully and brutally murdered. This was not the act of a flustered young juvenile; it was the adult act of a cold blooded killer. A few more hours went by and we had nothing. I was contacted around 10:00 that night after a close family friend called a detective friend of his. Shortly after that there were so many police officers, police dogs and even a helicopter looking for our daughter. The feelings we were going through and the thoughts of something bad having happened to her were just unbearably anguishing. It was pure horror; unbridled fear to the utmost intensity. Our child was missing. Every parent’s worst nightmare was playing out in the reality of our lives right then and there.

I was just praying and thinking of where she was and if she was okay. After hours of pacing and worrying, we finally got the horrific answers for most of our terrifying questions. They needed a picture of Danni to get a positive ID. They told us they found a young blond haired girl that met Danni’s description. Our worst fears were now facts.  Danni was dead. How do you process that? How do you make it make sense? A few hours later the chief of police came over to our home and told us they had a suspect in custody. Our pain was so terribly great, I hadn’t even thought of who could have hurt our precious loving girl; I was shocked to know how fast they found someone.

            In the coming days I had to step up and take control, because my husband could not physically do it. For the first time in my life, I had to make funeral arrangements. For my child!! Not a parent or a grand parent…..my CHILD!!! Children are supposed to bury their parents, not the other way around. In shock and grief I numbly went through the process of burying our daughter.  Everyone we spoke to that helped with the arrangements treated us so well. My father helped us with the funeral home because he knew the director. The love and support, from so many people and from the community, the help financially from those who donated money; it was so amazing to see this community come together like it did. But at such a tragic cost.

            Every step I took for the funeral and the burial was what Danni would have wanted and what she liked; who she was.  I was told I needed to get her clothes to wear. Right away I thought of her brand new dress she was supposed to wear for a special school trip. The funeral director called me and said she could not wear that dress because she was so badly beaten that the bruises on her arms and her neck were so great and getting darker as the hours went by. So, I had to get her a shirt that had long sleeves and high neck to cover telling marks of the horror of what she had suffered as she died. I chose a purple shirt, (her favorite color) and sporty pants with her favorite tweety socks and her Tweety blanket from her old bed to her new bed. She looked so precious and peaceful like she was sleeping. All I kept praying for her to wake up and say “HAHA Mommy, fooled you!!!” But it didn’t happen. To this day it still feels like a bad dream. And to this day I hate leaving the cemetery because I feel like I’m leaving her behind. I just want to take her home with me. Her grave stone is heart shaped with a Tweety angel on it with “Jesus loves me” written on it. Because, as I was cleaning out her locker from school, I found pieces of paper with crosses that she had drawn on them with those three words written across the papers. I keep thinking that she is in Heaven asking God to make a wonderful place for her family. And she probably is asking Him to give us a few more minutes to play down here, no doubt. That was my own proof that she loved God and I know she is very well taken care of by Him now.

            Those following weeks, months and year were full of counseling, meetings with Jim Martin and painful court dates. We learned exactly what happened to her. We learned that this horrible “juvenile” had made a list, it was called, “23 things to do to a girl in the woods.” Mr. Martin allowed us to read this list. Some of the things on there were to beat her, rape her and dress her back up, kill her and throw her in the river. Everything on that list was carried out premeditatedly and cold heartedly. This sinister plan certainly was not on the level of a “juvenile.” There are and there are going to be more offenders out there like this boy. Would this not be the kind of “JUVENILE” you would want to be in prison for life? He was 17 years old at the time, which technically makes him a juvenile. There is no difference mentally between a 17 year old and an 18 year old adult committing theses kind of crimes. He knew and planned exactly what he was going to do and he did it. This is not the kind of person we should allow to get out of prison walking the streets among your children and mine. He must pay the full price for his heinous crime. It is the only reasonable justice for taking my 12 year old daughter’s life. Our lives are forever changed, so should Brian Bahr’s life be forever changed. We will mourn forever….he should pay forever. He needs to suffer the loss of his freedom to follow his dreams, because he is the cause for the loss of our daughter Danni’s freedom, to follow her dreams.

            My husband and I have learned some very important things about life from the past five and a half years. Life has taught us to be better parents, a better spouse to each other and better human beings. We have learned that life can be snatched away very quickly. The time we spend with our son and daughter is so much more precious now, we want to cherish every moment we can for no one knows what the future holds. My own personal motto is, “Never think or say, that’s not going to happen to Me.”; whether it’s good or bad. Who would have thought that our quiet little family would be forever associated with the highest profiled murder case in Allentown?  A legacy we never would have chosen. But just as Brian Bahr gave Danni no choice, he gave us no choice either. You must never allow the chance that any other victims can be at the mercy of these “juveniles’ choices by setting them free because of the age that they were when they committed these crimes.  I beseech YOU to make the right choice. We must be strong and clear in our message to these offenders….there IS accountability.  Danni Reese Romig paid the price to have it, and we must demand it.

A few months ago this boy wrote me a letter. I didn’t ever think he would contact us. We were told he wasn’t allowed to. He apologized to our family for the pain he has caused us. I don’t really think that means a whole lot. Too little too late. You cannot just say I’m sorry. It doesn’t give us anything back. It doesn’t heal the pain.

 TESTIMONY ON JLWOP - Pro and Con - Aug. 4, 2010 - Philadelphia